Contreras was a recipient of the 2026 National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS) Emerging Leaders award, recognized as an outstanding early-career voice teacher making an impact in studios, classrooms, and communities across the singing profession.

Josaphat was named a 2024-2025 COMEXUS Garcia-Robles Fulbright Scholar, where he researched Mexican folk music style, interpretation, and Mariachi vocal pedagogy at the National Mariachi Conservatory Olin Yolitztli Garibaldi in Mexico City, Mexico.

As a performer, Josaphat has interpreted a diverse range of roles. His favorites include Gastone (La Traviata), Ferrando (Così fan tutte), Don Ottavio (Don Giovanni), Rinuccio (Gianni Schicchi), Orpheus (Orpheus in the Underworld), the narrator (into The Woods), Giove (Il ritorno d’Ulisse in Patria), and the Narrator (Bach’s Coffee Cantata). Contreras has performed with companies including the Teatro Ángela Peralta (Mazatlán, Mexico), Boston Lyric Opera, Musica Sacra of NY, the New York Philharmonic, Massachusetts Symphony Orchestra, Opera Maine, Connecticut Lyric Opera, Quincy Choral Society, Eureka Orchestra Boston, Opera Memphis, and On Site Opera. Comfortable in other genres, Josaphat was hired as a backup singer for the Josh Groban summer tour in 2019, in 2022, made his musical theatre debut in Boston as the Narrator in Into the Woods, and in 2024, was hired as a backup singer for Andrea Bocelli. Beyond opera, Josaphat is an established concert soloist singing works from Handel’s Messiah, Mozart’s Requiem, to Goodall’s Eternal Light: A Requiem in venues across the country.

His research has been presented at institutions including the National Opera Association, Houston Grand Opera, NPR Illinois, the International Congress of Voice Teachers, the New England Conservatory of Music, the University of Memphis, the Pan-American Vocology Association, the 2026 National NATS conference, and Arizona State University. In 2023, his deeply researched poster presentation, Can Opera Be Folk Music?, won first place at the National Opera Association conference.

Beyond his professional life, Josaphat is a devoted partner and father. His family and heritage continue to inspire his commitment to building a more empathetic and inclusive world through music. He holds a Master of Music in Vocal Pedagogy from the New England Conservatory of Music (NEC), where he was chosen as the NEC commencement speaker for the graduating class of 2022. When not working, he spends his time with his dog Rufus, wife Amanda Michelle, and 2-year-old daughter Ava Michelle.